Privacy work around

A group of Senate Democrats is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to develop new rules to protect data privacy amid stalled progress on a national framework.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) led a letter signed by eight of his colleagues to agency Chair Lina Khan on Monday requesting new rules targeted at strengthening privacy, boosting civil rights and creating guardrails on the collection of consumer data.

The letter calls out Big Tech companies for having “unchecked access to private personal information” that they use to “create in-depth profiles about nearly all Americans and to protect their market position against competition from startups.”

It argues that attempts to punish firms that violate existing data privacy rules have been insufficient.

“We believe that a national standard for data privacy and security is urgently needed to protect consumers, reinforce civil rights, and safeguard our nation’s cybersecurity,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote.